Tag Archives: Roy Clark

With the death of the Amazing Roy Clark this week. I wanted to write a special post, of what it was like to work with him, at his Theater in the 90’s. He was quite special.

I started by working in the theater, cleaning up after the shows. And working the concession stand. But as I worked there a while and got more experience, they gave me a little more responsibility. Eventually, I started to go and pick things up for Roy, as traffic was a beast back then. 76 only had the East and West it’s known for,and not many side roads. Construction was all over the place, and new hotels were going up every month.

Roy was smart…….and he treated everyone with respect. He new exactly how to market his product, and when to come and play Branson and when to play away. He always called me “Bigen” due to my size and tipped me every time I picked up his food. He loved “Tex Mex” and a Restaurant called Mcguffey’s on the strip. There were five Mcguffey’s in town, and one even in the Raddison. He preferred the one on the strip.

He would always drive up in some kind of collectible car, and park it right out side his personal dressing room. As things heated up in Branson, and the theater was doing better. He built his own personal dressing room, onto the theater for privacy. If he ever had trouble with his phone, they would send me back to fix. He had these great leather chairs in his office, and was napping sometimes when I came to drop food off. Again, they always had a tip for me, even when I used the company van.

Roy played multiple instruments, and at times I would hear him playing them back stage. Trumpet to me was the best, and I was floored at how good he was. He also played Mandolin, Dobro, Fiddle, Guitar, trumpet and so much more. He was one of a kind. To be continued…..